The Defender
by UzumakiShadow
Summary: Aleksandr is a orphan raised in Russia.He has never known or had a family to call his own.So what happens when he finds out that his dad is alive?And this new "dad" claims he is the sun god, Apollo. Aleksandr will defend the family he never knew he had.
1. Prologue

**Thanks so much to my beta, krystle123. **

**Disclaimer: Rick R****iordan wouldn't sell to me. So I still don't own PJO **

**...**

Prologue: The Defender

The orphanage was full of life and noise. The tiny brown building was almost too full; there were children in every crook and cranny, all covered in what blankets the staff could find to protect them from the harsh winter of St. Petersburg, Russia.

An employee had finally gotten everyone comfortable and was finally able to lay down. Just as her head was about to touch the pillow, a loud knock came from the door. She sighed and got up to open it.

Standing outside in below freezing temperatures was a young woman with a package pressed to her chest.

The worker peered closer. No it wasn't a package, it was… a baby.

"I can no longer protect him." The woman spoke in a heavily Russian accented voice. "Every time I look at him… He looks too much like his father." She pulled the baby from her chest and placed it into the woman's arms. The lady held the baby and pushed away the blanket that was covering its face. He was beautiful, with bright blond hair and eyes the color of the sky. His skin was practically glowing.

The employee gasped and stared at the woman. "Why would you want to give him up? He's gorgeous!"

The mother shook her head. "I cannot keep him. But I have something for him." She dug through her pocket and pulled out a silver ID bracelet. She handed it to the worker.

The worker looked closer at the bracelet and was surprised to see words on it, words she could not understand. It was all Greek to her.

"Make sure he never loses this. Make sure he wears it always," the mother whispered as she backed away from the door.

"But wait," the woman from the orphanage yelled, "what's your name? How can I contact you?"

The Russian backed further into the shadows. "You don't need to know my name, but his name... His name is Aleksandr, because he will be the defender of mankind. He will shine like his father, like the sun."

And then she was gone, leaving the lady and the child, Aleksandr, alone.


	2. Jumped

Hey guys , this is the second chapter to , The Defender. Well technically you could call it the first cause the one before this was the prologue, so yeah . Thanks to Acidic Pancakes & What story will I fall into, you guys reviews helped me finish this chapter. Also , please bare with me as I try to figure out how to work this software. Some of the words might be in a different font or a different size. Review! Criticism always helps me do better but keep it at a realistic level please. UzamakiShadow out , Peace! Normal Talking _Thinking …..._

_Chapter 2_

_**14 years later**_

__I cautiously stuck my head out of the alley. It was quiet, too quiet. I made a sweep of the area._ Check __Left ,Right ,Up , Down. _Feeling a little paranoid I check behind me._ Seems clear, did I lose them?_. I pulled myself back in to the alley, pushing my back into the wall. _It's now or never. _I took a deep breath and dove out the alley to hide behind the cars that lined the street. I can practically hear the James Bond music playing in my head as I hid behind each car while walking down the sidewalk. _Almost there , so close! _I could just barely make out the shape of the orphanage down the street.

Then I hear it. Then sound of feet running across the snow. I raise my head slowly above the car. A group of the toughest, meanest kids in all of St. Petersburg and maybe Russia were standing across the street. And unfortunately , as always they were looking for me. If I hadn't raised my head they would've run past me , but with my bad luck I had to stick my head out. How could they miss me? My bright blond hair was basically a sign pointing at my head that said, **Here he is! Now come knock his socks off.**

And with the looks on their faces it looks like that's what they planned to do. _Run you idiot! _I mentally yelled at myself. But my feet were frozen to the spot. _Coward _. I shyly raised my hands and gave a little wave as the crossed the street heading towards me. "Hey you guy-ys, need me for so-something? _Stop stuttering! Shut it and run!_. When I had finally stopped my mental bickering with myself and decided that I should do something smart , like maybe run , they surrounded me. They boxed me in , going shoulder to shoulder with each other and getting WAY closer then I was comfy with. When I mentioned toughest and meanest earlier I should have added, the smelliest. These guys stunk , like Sister Margret's " meatball surprise" stunk. They all had stupid idiotic smiles on their faces and were cracking their knuckles. _No running now._ I put up my fists, which looked way tiny compared to theirs , but I know I could take them. _You can't fight back! Remember what Ms. Anna told you, one more fight and it's the street for you_.

I gritted my teeth and slowly lowered my arms so they sat by my sides. I looked up at the ringleader, who by far was the biggest and the smelliest. I barely even knew the guy , he just likes picking fights, mostly on people smaller then him like me. They were moving in closer, getting right up in my personal space. Finally I lost it , I looked him straight in the eye " You son of a- " I was cut off by a punch to the face. Apparently it was a signal. The rest of the guys jumped on me. About 10 minutes later I felt a final goodbye kick to the side and heard the crunch of snow as the gang walked away. I laid still till there laughter and footsteps faded away. I stood up and grimaced as I felt a pain in my side. _I could have taken them, stupid Ms. Anna , trying to get me killed with her , no fighting back rule,_

_._ As I placed my hand to my side I noticed it was missing a familiar weight. I looked down at my wrist. My id bracelet was gone. All the blood left my face as I looked around franticly , looking for the bright gleam of my bracelet gleaming in the sunlight. _No , No where is it! _I got on my knees and shuffled around in the snow. The pain in my side intensified as my breathing got fast and I rolled around in the snow. _Look to your left , in the dark, _a voice in my head whispered. But this voice sounded nothing like my inner voice. It sounded older , stronger. It sounded familiar . But I forgot about it as I looked over and I found my bracelet sitting in the dark shade of the building behind me. I shuffled over and grabbed it, pressing it to my chest like it was a small child. I turned around and leaned my back against the wall and held it in the sun so I could see it better. It was the only thing I had to remember my mother by , and if it was damaged, those idiots were dead. I turned it over and checked the clasp.

It didn't look like it had gotten damaged , just a little wet from the snow. γνῶθι σεαυτόν , **Know thy self**, were the words that were carved on it. I hadn't even had to look it up , I read it. Of course no one believes me when I tell them. The kid with dyslexia , reading Greek? Impossible! I sighed and looked around , replaying today's events in my head. _Wonder if Ms. Anna will believe me if I tell her I was jumped._ I shook my head ._ Probably not , that woman has it in for me. She wouldn't mind kicking me out in the dark. Wait , dark. _I looked around ,it was getting dark, and I , a fourteen year old boy, was ,um, kind of sorta scared by the dark. I put the id bracelet back on my arm and turned it so the words were on top. I stood up a little too fast and quickly doubled over in pain. I'm pretty sure that last kick had broken or bruised my rib. But I picked myself up and squared my shoulders, the orphanage was just down the street. It wasn't the first time I've had a messed up rib, busted lip or been covered with bruises. Its wasn't that bad and I heal quickly. The worst part would be trying to explain it. I started forward but stopped when I heard a mysterious rattling noise coming from the ground. There was a rattlesnake standing in the middle of my path.

I took a step back and just walked around it , more concerned about the coming darkness. I think if I hadn't been so high on the pain I would have stopped to think about this little incident. A rattlesnake , in St. Petersburg , in the middle of winter. But nothing could have prepared me for what this little incident would lead to.


	3. Dream

**Hey guys! Here's Chapter 2 of … dramatic pause.. The Defender ! This chapter came really easy , no writers block whatsoever. Thanks SO much to all those who reviewed and added my story to their Favs/Alerts. Thanks to all those who stayed on even though I had a little problem in the other chapters with the paragraphs. I will go back some time and fix them. I going to shut up now **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO , if I did I would have stolen the lightning bolt and started zapping random people. * insert evil laugh* **

Normal talking,… _Thinking_

Chapter 2: Dream

_The best thing about dreams is that fleeting moment, when you are between asleep and awake, when you don't know the difference between reality and fantasy, when for just that one moment you feel with your entire soul that the dream is reality, and it really happened_. …...

I opened the door slowly and looked around. Aside from a few lights still on in the nursery it looked like everyone had turned in for the night. The coast was clear. I shuffled through the door cautiously , and slowly and very careful shut it , it was famous for being squeaky. Luck was on my side as the it shut without a sound. I turned around ,and walked straight into Ms. Anna . When I say the name Ms. Anna a lot of people imagine a little old lady who knits socks and takes care of the orphans. They couldn't be farther off. Ms. Anna was at least six foot two, totally dwarfing me .She had brown , stringy shoulder length hair that looked like all moisture had been dried out a long time ago. Those weren't the parts about her that scared me though. What freaked me out were her eyes. Her left eye was as green as a Christmas tree but her right was as brown as dirt. And they always looked, well , hungry. Like she hadn't eaten in a long time and I was her next meal. I asked her once about how she got her eyes and how did she end up at our orphanage of all places. She stared me down with her creepy eyes and gave a speech about how I shouldn't be poking into a ladies business. I didn't ask again. I gulped and quickly put a smile on my face, " Hey Ms. Anna , fancy meeting you here. Well , got to go ." I said as I made a quick dash towards the stairs. "Aleksandr" she yelled , " why do you smell like blood? Have you been fighting?"

I froze mid-step , and looked down at my clothes. I was positive I had washed all the blood off. _Darn it,.. wait did she say smell?._ "Because you know if you have , you WILL be asked to leave. Translation, we'll kick you out onto the street.I turned around to face her and put on my best smile. " No Ms. Anna , I was not in a fight today I just tripped on the way here , you know me I'm a klutz. Either my smile does have the affect that people say it does or I was a better liar than I thought because she gave a small " Hmph' and left. I let out the breath I didn't know I was holding and continued up the stairs to my room. Well I can't technically call it " my" room though cause I share it with two other people. One was my best friend and practically my sister , Alena.

She had come to the orphanage a year after I did and we've practically been inseparable since. The other was Marko , he was older then I was and always busy so I never really hung out with him much. But it was safe to call him a friend. They were already passed out when I made my way to my bed. I quietly reached under my mattress and pulled out the first aid kit I have for reasons like this. I stripped my shirt off and took a closer look at my side where a very colorful bruise was already forming on my side. I felt around on the skin and winced when a came at the spot. _Defiantly bruised , I would be in a lot more pain if it was broken._ I pulled the wrapping tape out of the first aid kit and set to work. _Just more practice for when I become a doctor. _When my side was completely tapped up I put my pajamas on and slipped under the covers. My adrenaline rush from earlier had faded away and I was knocked out as soon as my head touched the pillow. Then the dream started. I was in the middle of a grassy field , during the heat of a battle fully decked out in armor. Which was really uncomfortable with the sun beating down on my head. I was fully surrounded by men who were also in full armor but with spears and swords. I looked down at my hands. I was carrying nothing but a golden shield. I heard a horn bugle in the distance and I snatched my head up. They were attacking me, running toward me with swords and death intent in their eyes . I raised my shield and held of their attacks , turning their own swords back on themselves. I twirled around , striking out with my shield and knocking them to the ground.

When I needed to go offence I pressed a switch and the sides became sharp rivaling any blade. The shield was my weapon , it defended me and attacked for me. Every time I smashed it upon someone's head it was like a gong , ringing in another death. I felt powerful , I felt strong. It felt right, like I was born to do this. A laugh escaped my lips , and it scared the crap out of me. I was enjoying this, but it goes completely against my nature. I want to be a doctor , to save lives not take them . Yet I kept on slashing and bashing. Then there were no more men left , they all lay at my feet. I reached toward my shield and pressed in the middle ,like it was the most natural thing I would do. The shield collapsed and folded up until it was a gold band on my wrist. It was a simple gold band nothing really special about it .But it was familiar ,yet different, like I had worn it once or had seen it before. I looked closer and saw that their was something carved on it. I froze , now I knew why it was so familiar. On the top side of the bracelet was γνῶθι σεαυτόν. " Know thy self " I whispered . Now I knew why it was so familiar, even though it was bigger, it was my bracelet. It was something magical and ancient and it had been on my wrist my entire life. _What does this mean?_ Suddenly it got bright , so bright I couldn't see my hand anymore. I covered my eyes , for fear of being blinded. Just when I thought when I was going to fry I heard a voice. " Get ready" it whispered. I felt a pain in my side as the dream faded away.

I woke up yelling and with spots dancing in front of my eyes. It took me a second to realize what had happened. According to Alena , I was 'difficult' to wake up. So instead of pouring water on me or yelling in my ear for me to wake up , she jumps on me. But Alena doesn't know about the bruised side. She fell off as I writhed and grabbed my side, blinking my eyes real fast so she wouldn't notice the tears that had popped up. When the pain had faded away I relaxed my muscles and tried to catch my breath. I couldn't tell if it had left me because of the dream or having 14 year old girl jump on me. I looked over at Alena , she was sitting on the floor where she had fallen , her eyes wide and full of questions. I shook my head ,trying to figure out what had just happened. _That dream was so real , I felt everything and my bracelet… MY Bracelet! _My eyes widened and I jerked the golden id bracelet up to my eyes , examining every inch of it for a clue about what had just happened. Nothing was different about it , just the same as it had been for the past 14 years of my life. _Its impossible , my bracelet isn't that old. I mentally shook my head. For God's sake it " magically" turned into a shield. _So why was I still freaking out?Alena jumped up and pointed her finger at me . " What the heck was that!", she yelled "you scared the crap out of me. You started yelling like you had seen the devil and you're the same color as our walls . She pointed to our very bland egg-shell white walls and let out a string of curses in Russian. I winced . Although I am pretty much her big brother I had nothing to do with her , um , very un-lady like vocabulary. " Lena shut up , what if Sister Hannah hears." I whispered.

Alena stopped in the middle of her colorful speech. Having to write 500 times , I will not swear or curse, again , was not very high on her fun list. I pulled myself out of bed and started getting ready for school. School doesn't except a weird dream as a excuse on a tardy slip. Alena finally, after me ignoring her questions, gave up and went downstairs. I grabbed whatever smelled the least from my dirty pile and slipped it on. I was to busy thinking to worry weather it matched or not. I ran downstairs , grabbed an apple and my backpack and walked out the door. Usually Alena and I walk to school together but I couldn't deal with her questions right now. _Especially since I don't even know the answers._ I made it halfway to school before I heard her yelling after me, asking me to wait up._ Should I just pretend I didn't hear her , just keep on walking?. No ,she'd hunt me down eventually._ I stopped and turned around to face her. She closed the distance between us and stood for a moment panting. When she had recovered she crossed her arms and gave me her signature glare.** Tell me everything NOW!** I sighed and put my hands up in surrender. I told her about the fight yesterday and the dream/nightmare I had. When I was finished she stood for a second, with a thoughtful look on her face. Then she stepped forward and punched me on the arm " Ow, what the heck was that for." I protested. "For scaring the crap outta me" she yelled, " I thought something , like, REALLY bad had happened. Like Ms. Anna kicking you out or you killed somebody or something like that. That's seriously it?" She rolled her eyes. " Your such a drama king Aleksandr. The fight , well what Ms. Anna doesn't know won't hurt her and the dream, probably just a result of that food they made us eat a lunch yesterday at school." she shuddered at the thought of yesterdays school lunch. All the stress and worries faded out of me.

Alena was right, I over-reacted. How's a fight and a dream going to change my life forever ?. " Thanks Lena , what would I do without you?' I said. She tossed her hair to the side all diva-like, " I like to imagine your life without me a zombie ridden waste land filled with nuclear cows and no pizza ." she said dramatically. " And I'm the drama king." I teased as I started toward school. " You coming Lena." I yelled back at her . She ran up to beside me and we walked to school. Shoulder to shoulder. Me and my sister. …... Right after lunch time the we all headed outside for our free time. Even though we live in a climate that is mostly cold and snowy our teachers insist we have a right to outside time. More like get rid of the kids for 45 minutes . Me , I don't have a problem with it , I like being outside. But the other kids think its awful . But its not like they lock us outside in below freezing temperatures, well there was that one time. I was sitting next to Alena at a picnic table. She was reading her favorite book , Eragon , and I was just sitting. Enjoying the smell of the snow and the warmth of the sun. A few inches had fallen last night, covering everything in a blanket of snow. With the snow shining down it looked just like a postcard. .Out of the blue Alena grabbed my arm so hard I jumped. "Alek , I just saw a snake…. Stop looking at me like that! It was just sitting right there." She pointed at a spot a few feet away from the table. " Alena, its too cold for snakes. Your just seeing things" I said , hoping she'd drop it . She crossed her arms and glared. " How do you know that Mr. Smarty-pants ? Where'd the snakes go then?" I laid my head on the table and groaned. " Ireland , they all went to Ireland." She didn't responded but tugged on my sleeve. I groaned and lifted my head up. " I already told you , they all went to Ire-" I stopped. Because standing in front of our table was my " friend" from yesterday. And by friend I mean the guy who gave me this nasty bruise on my cheek. The leader , the guy who threw the first punch. " Hey , buddy" he said with a evil grin on his face, " I didn't know you went to the same school as me and my buddies do. _Neither did I . Great , just freaking great. _He noticed Alena sitting next to me.

His eyes gave off a hungry glint as he examined her. My eyes widened and I clenched my fists. He moved closer and closer to Alena , completely ignoring the death glare she was giving him. " Will you move" she spat , " your dirtying up our air." His smile grew wider and he put his head in his hands , not even hiding his roaming eyes. _Do something coward ! He's going to hurt her!. _But I stayed frozen. " Me and you could have some fun together honey." he drawled. My jaw clenched tighter and my vision went red with anger. " Not on your life" Lena yelled. He laughed like her refusal of him was the funniest thing ever. Then he reached out to touch her. My vision went white , completely blinding me. I couldn't see anything for a second but I heard screaming. _Alena!_ When the spots faded I found out the screaming wasn't coming from her. My "friend" was running around screaming, with his pants on fire. I jerked my head back and forth. I guess I should have been more interested on why my vision had just conked out but I was more concerned about what had just happened. In that split second something had happened and I had missed it. Alena was laughing so hard she fell out of her chair and was rolling around on the ground , clutching her side. _I zone out for a second and the school yard goes into chaos. _I reached down and shook Alena. " What happened? How is he on fire?". She set up and wiped the tears from her eyes. " I don't know", she said in between giggles, " one second he was standing there and the next he was on fire. How could you miss it?" I stood up and ran a hand through my hair._ Yeah , how did I miss it. He was standing right there. I'm just over-reacting , again._ "Mr. Aleksandr!" I heard a voice yell . I looked over toward the school and saw the principle standing next to my " pal" who was completely covered in fire extinguisher foam. " Please come join me in my office." the principle yelled. Oh crap.


	4. Trouble

_Chapter 3 : Trouble _

**HEY! Here is Chapter 3 of the Defender! Sorry it took me so long . I feel horrible but I've had a horrible case of writers block , and I'm in the process of getting a Beta reader. Thanks to all those who comment . Even reviews that point out flaws help me break out of a rut. Also a little fact for those that care. The phrase , Know thyself , was actual craved Apollo's temple. Just an interesting tidbit that I thought was cool. I had no clue about it when I picked it out . I guess it was meant to be! Ok , I'm going to shut it now. **

**P.S. I am aware that this is short , so you don't have to point it out for me. **

**UzamakiShadow.**

Normal Talking ,

_Thinking. _

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO . If I did the movie wouldn't have sucked.

…...

My eyes are opened wide. By the way , I made it through the day. I watch the world outside. By the way I'm leaving out today

- Second Chance , Shinedown. 

According to the story my friend , who I now dub Boris, told the principle. I had jumped across the table , pulled a lighter out and personally shoved it up his butt. Yeah, really believably. But our principle was brand new and just that gullible so I was now on my way to his office. The only good part was that Boris got first-degree burns on his butt and had to go home for the week. I smiled not at all feeling guilty , as long as he was away from Alena I didn't care what punishment I got. All I had to do was remember that little fact and this will be a lot more manageable .But still , how the heck did Boris become the victim?

I followed the principle , Mr. Vasilyev , down the long hallways of the school , ignoring the curious or hating stares the teachers and students were giving me. He stopped at the last door on the right and opened the door to his motioned for me to step in .

I walked in and plunked down on a chair that looked like it had seen better days. Mr. V's office was one of those offices that were designed to scare kids. The walls were a pale almost deathly grey and all the furniture was huge , making me feel even smaller. But I guessed that was the point . I was already rubbing my hands together like I do when I got nervous , yeah I'll admit it , I was scared too. Even though I got into fights I was still a star student. One of those kids who only see the inside of the principles office when they were being rewarded or something like that. Even with my dyslexia and ADHD I was still basically a nerd. Didn't mean I was proud of the fact though .

Mr. V shut his door and walked over to a huge brown filing cabinet in the corner of his office . " What's your last name kid" he asked as he opened the drawer revealing student files . I felt my cheeks heat up and my hand twitch a little. I wiggled uncomfortably in my seat . Only a couple of seconds in his office and he had already discovered my shameful secret. _Shouldn't I be used to this by now? Why do I have to explain it to every new teacher or principle? _My own mother had failed to even give a last name to me when she dumped me. Even a fake one would have been nice. Just something to have after Aleksandr. " Don't have one" I whispered as I rubbed my hands together nervously . He froze and glanced over at me with a flash of pity and realization in his eyes. " Your from that children's home aren't yah? The Helping Hands , that's the name right?" he questioned , turning away from the cabinet and facing me . " Da" I whispered , trying to ignore the pity in his eyes . This was the normal reaction I got from most people when they found out , but that didn't make it any easier.

He grabbed a file and set down in the chair on the other side of the desk. " So your guardian would be Ms. Anna , the director of the home." he questioned as he fingered through to file which I guessed was mine. I nodded , not really proud at having to admit that creepy Ms. Anna was the person in charge of my well being. He sighed and placed the file down. " We are going to call Ms. Anna so she can help us figure out what is going on , plus since she's your guardian she is required to be here." he said. If possible I sunk further into my seat. _Why? Why me? Of all people. I am so getting kicked out. _I ran my hands through my hair and tried to restrain the hysterical giggle I could feel coming on. Boris was going to die.

After my little chat with the principle , he thought it was best if I stayed in a unused classroom till she arrived. Meaning I had a whole room to pace. Having ADHD already sucks , but tell a kid that the creepy person in charge of him is coming to meet the principle about the guys pants you 'set' on fire. Plus add in the fact that she has the power to kick you out in the middle of winter . Nothing will get a ADHD kid more hyped up then that , well I know it does to me. Not that I think any other kid had been in the same situation though . It had only been 5 minutes and I had already pushed the chairs against the walls so I could pace. I probably am going to get a lot of crap for that but who CARES! She is coming here! I paced back and forth trying to figure out what to do . _Options : Stay here , then get kicked out , then freeze to death. Not really fond of that idea . Option 2: __I could escape , I heard Germany is nice , no snow right now. Of course I'd have to.. wait ! What am I thinking? It's not like I set him on fire. _I stopped pacing , totally shocked by a new possibility ._ Or did I , is it all connected ? Did I do that? _I shook my head and mentally slapped myself. Yeah , I was officially losing it. I sighed and set down in one of the desks I had pushed against the wall. I continually rubbed my hands together trying to ignore the glaring face of the clock above the door. The dream , the fire thing , what was going on ?

A loud knock at the door woke me out of my self pity party. " Come in" I yelled . Mr. V slowly peeked in and took in the crazy jumble of desks pushed against the wall . His eyebrows rose but he didn't make a comment. " Ms . Anna is here to see you" he stated. My stomach dropped and I took a deep breath. _Calm down __, I'm just overreacting , AGAIN __**! **__What do I have to hide ? _. He pushed the door all the way open and Ms. Anna walked in. I could practically feel the anger rolling off her as she walked across the room to me . Mr. V noticed it too and nervously cleared his throat. Ms. Anna's head whipped back toward him . " Could you please leave me and Mr. Aleksandr alone for a moment." she turned back and stared at me, " there are things we need to … discuss. I tried to signal him a big N-O but since my sign language consists of hello and I love you he gave me a nod and walked out. So know I was alone with Ms. Anna , great.

" Sit" she commanded while pointing at a desk that wasn't pushed against the wall . I jumped at the tone in her voice and quickly set down. " Now tell me detail by detail of what happened." she said. I launched into telling what had happened , pointing out a lot that I didn't even see what had happen . When I finished she got a really creepy smile on her face and started walking towards me slowly. _Oh my gosh , she is going to kill ME !_ I leaned back farther as she got closer and closer. " Finally , I know for sure." she whispered. She still had that creepy smile on her face as she leaned in even closer.

Then I noticed it , her creepy eyes were even creepier now . They were silted._ JUMP! _A voice in my head command and I complied . I jumped , as I heard a loud crash to the side of the desk that Ms. Anna wasn't on and came up in a crouch. The chair I had just been sitting in one now in a million pieces . My eyes rose from what had been a desk and I took in the sight that had been Ms. Anna . Or maybe she was always like this. Me , being the smart person I was could only say , " What the crap ?"

Her dry hair was longer now , all the way down to her ankles and it seemed to move. Her skin had turned green and had what looked like scales covering her. She didn't have legs , she had a long green tail that was moving back and forth like cats do when they are watching prey. I felt like throwing up , it was so disturbing and unnatural at the same time. This couldn't be real , this can't be real ! _Concentrate ,don't let it distract you or it WILL kill you. _a voice said. I gave a nod and looked around , trying to figure out what was happening. Her long tail was blocking the door so getting out that way was gone . My eyes flickered toward the widows . She noticed and started moving closer. Her green and brown eyes were watching me as I took her in. " What are you" I questioned trying to hid the fear in my voice. " I am the one who is going to destroy you half-blood!" she screeched. She dove toward me , her mouth open reveling large fangs. _I'm so dead _

Authors Note: Sorry about the cliffhanger . But I'm out of creative juice at the moment. I'll try to post the next chapter as soon as possible .

'Da' is Russian for yes. My mom speaks Russian and my siblings were born there. So I know what I'm talking about. R and R !


	5. Not a new chapter

Not A Update! Just wanted to let y'all know ( I'm from the South , y'all is a word) that it had come to my intention that whenever I upload a chapter instead of receiving one email alerting me , I get five. I don't know if this has happened to anyone following my story , but I'm going to try and work it out anyway.

Another alert is that I'm changing the rating from T to K+. I had a change of heart . I was reading PJO the other day and I decided I wasn't going to change so much from what my story is based on . Ok , one more thing ( last one I promise !). The new Kane Chronicles book is out May 3, 2011! * insert girly scream*

Well that's it , sorry for blabbering on . I'm going to update soon and I have a feeling this chapter is going to be the best one yet. Of course I've only written like a paragraph of it , but still , it will be epic . BELIEVE IT ! ( sorry, I had to put something Naruto related in here)

UzamakiShadow .


	6. Suprise!

_Chapter 4: Surprise!_

Hey guys. Sorry to pull a Paolini on you guys but I've been trying to work things out with a BETA. This is not BETA'd but I will have one soon. Hope you guys like this , if you don't TO BAD ! Thanks to those who subbed and I hope this answers your question MiamiB!

R&R , Thanks!

UzamakiShadow

…...

" **What are you" I questioned trying to hid the fear in my voice. " I am the one who is going to destroy you half-blood!" she screeched. She dove toward me , her mouth open reveling large fangs. I'm so dead **_- _**Recap of Chapter 3 **

_**There's nothing you can say , Nothing you can do , Nothing in between , You know the truth , Nothing left to face , Nothing left to lose, Nothing takes your place. **__- _Not Enough by Our Lady Peace

In the spilt second , as the thing that had been my caretaker dove at me, I made a decision.

" SHIELD" I cried out in perfect Greek. I felt my wrist tingle and itch as my golden id bracelet grew. It expanded and formed until I was wearing a very familiar and somewhat heavy shield. The sunlight reflected off the shield casting the room in a golden shimmer as I raised it above my head and tightened my grip. Her evil mismatched eyes widened as the shield smashed into her face, sending her flying across the room and utterly destroying the wall of my classroom.

I don't know what or who she is , but no way was I going to give up anymore. I'm confused , slightly creped out but mostly ticked off. And they say the best way to take out your anger is to hit something ,so I did. Before the monster even had a chance to pull its self back up , I was on it again with another crashing blow. She fell back down and didn't try to get back up , she just starred at me with her eyes full of hate and bloodlust.

" What are you" I questioned , " what do you want with me?"

She hissed , shrinking away from my shield, " I am one of a old race whose name mortals have forgotten" she hissed while she glared at me , making her hate known. I glared back till she looked away chuckling, "as to what business I have with you," she paused and gave me a psychotic smile. " Half-bloods are so , tasty."

Half-blood , the word echoed through my head like a song I had forgotten the words to. She called me that before too. I pushed the shield tighter against her throat , " Explain" I said.

" I have been watching you for a while Aleksandra , watching and waiting with the help of my cousins." My gaze flickered to her long scaly tale. Cousins? Images flashed in my head . Of the fight yesterday and earlier today. " Snakes " I guessed. " I had them watching you to confirm my suspicion's and just incase your powers began to emerge."

I leaned forward , to make sure I caught that last part right. " Powers?"

Suddenly I felt something wrap around my leg and throw me across the room like a football. I heard the sound of cracking wood and felt pain in my back as I hit the wall hard and lights flashed in front of my eyes. I laid in a pile of broken wood which was most likely the desks I had pushed against the wall . Yeah , not my best idea ever. As I struggled to find my breath , which was probably in Ireland right now , rose to her full height and started walki- slithering toward me with a triumph look in her eyes . The end of her massive tail was what had tossed me and it was still wrapped around my ankle in a death shield , surprisingly, was still latched to my arm, not that it would do me much good with me being , practically attached to the lady who is trying to kill me. I shook my dizzy head , trying to get the three Ms. Anna's back to one. When my gaze finally refocused I realized just how bad my situation was. So far I had been on offence but now I was going to have to be on defense . My gaze went back and forth between the snake , who was now standing in front of me licking her lips , to my shield.

I tried to connect the dots , to figure out what to do. My whole body was shaking , partially fear but more of adrenaline and anticipation. Everything so far had been natural, like a extension of me. I could see the scenario in my head , the best places to attack.

It was over-whelming.

Her muscles tensing was the only warning I got before she rushed at me , screaming like a banshee. Seriously , how has no one heard us yet?I rolled to the right as her face smashed into the place I had just been. _It looks like she relies mostly on her fangs as a weapon . At this rate , I can make her knock herself out_. She pulled herself up and glared at me with fury only Ms. Anna could have. I gave out a short yell as I felt myself being dragged towards the snake at a fast rate. Pieces of the broken wall scraped across my back , leaving a blood trail behind me . I ignored the pain as her ugly face rushed toward me. I remembered my dream and glanced down at my shield. This wasn't its only form , it could be made sharp . But what did I- the person in the dream do ? _They did something , come on , come on _. I put my mental video player to reverse , to my dream.

Suddenly , it hit me. I put my hand down and pushed myself up , using her tail as a slingshot to launch myself towards the snake. The person in the dream , he had pressed a lever or button or something. That's what did it. Everything seemed to go into slow motion as I flew toward the snake while franticly searching the back of my shield. My fingers fell on something that was slightly raised from the surface. And in a last ditch , I'm-about-to-die effort I pushed down on it. My wrist itched as the edge of my shield glimmered and became thin and sharp like a knife. I pulled it back and with strength I didn't know I had flung it towards the snake.

The spinning golden shield cast the room in a yellow hue as it spun , dead on , toward its target. It so was beautiful but deadly. Ms. Anna gave out one last screech which turned into a death rattle as the shield slammed in to her , passing clean through her body like she was made of water , totally separating her torso from her monster tail. Then Ms. Anna exploded into yellow powder all the way from her head to the tail that was still wrapped around my leg. I fell to the ground and quickly jumped up , expecting a attack . But this wasn't a secret power or some kind of way for me to drop my guard. She was dead and I was the one who killed here. _But its not like she was human , right?_ But no matter way I put it , I was alone with a shield and a LOT of questions. Banging on the door causing me to jump in fear interrupted my self pity party. I could see through the window of the barred door , Mr. V the principle , some students and a whole lot of teachers examining the room with a mixture of horrified and astonished expressions. " Oh crap" I whispered while looking around the room to see what damage had been done . One of the walls had been almost completely destroyed , with rubble covering the ground . Not to mention the pile of wood in the corner that used to be desks and the little Sahara Desert in the middle of it all that used to be Ms. Anna. Or it could be the blood dripping off my back . But it didn't matter what part of the mess they were staring at because I was going to be blamed for it.

And Ms. Anna , how could I explain why she's a pile of dust without being thrown into a asylum for being crazy! As my small crowd of spectators looked on , I considered my options.

1. Go to jail for completely destroying school property .

2. Tell the truth about Ms. Anna and go to the insane asylum.

Or 3. Run . The only situation I could see here that I didn't go to jail or locked up in a sponge room was running.

Leaving everything behind to escape the hell here they call prison . I ran over and grabbed my shield and my backpack. Mr. V was yelling now , banging against the door. I pressed the center of the shield causing it to shrink to my normal bracelet as I ran over to the window ,thankful that I was just on the 1st floor. I turned back to what was my whole world. Even if it was screwed up , it was the only one I have. I caught sight of Alena , starring at me with confused and pleading eyes. That almost broke my resolve , almost . But if there are more things like Ms. Anna around , nobody around me is safe and I couldn't do that to my friends or the people around me . And there were things that I needed to find out that I couldn't find out here. I had to find out what I was , cause at the moment , I don't know what I am. Am I human or am I what the monster called me , a half-blood.

I stared back at Alena and put my hand over my heart , our signal we had created when we first became close , for I love you. She copied my movement, placing her own hand on her heart . I jumped out the one-story window and sped away from the school , trying ignore every memory and doubt that popped up . This wasn't going to be the last time I'll be here. I was going to come back. I wasn't going to leave my sister here alone. The further away I ran from the school the less doubts I had. This was something I needed to do .

I hurriedly stuck my hand under my bed for my first-aid kit and accidentally banged my ID bracelet against the metal frame. Somehow during my frantic and somewhat emotional ( not that I'd tell anyone that, I'm a dude for gosh sakes ) run it had shrunken down to its normal size. I was really glad for that cause it was kinda heavy and it stuck out of place until I noticed that it hadn't even attracted attention anyway. In the whole ten minutes it took me to run from school to home , no one showed any surprise or even took notice of me with my clothes torn and bloody running down the street like a mad man , holding a golden shield! I shook my head in disbelief and stuck the kit in my backpack along with my other belongings. I wasn't stupid enough that I thought I could run away with no supplies and still survive. Hence the backpack filled with some clothes , money and rice-krispies. I couldn't survive with out my rice-krispies ... and that other stuff too.

I slung my backpack over my shoulder and took one last look as I walked out the door. For 14 years I had lived in this room and now I was leaving it. I knew it was crazy to run , but I felt like I had a voice telling me that this was the right thing to do. Crazy huh ? I ran down the stairs and out the door and turned right on the street. I was going south , towards Europe. I figured it was the best place to start with Italy being there and all . I ran into an alley beside the building and ran straight into someone.

" Ow" I yelled, " watch were your going !" The person I had run into was short pale boy about my age with tuffs of short brown hair sticking out from underneath a baseball hat. He looked a little confused and with the American baseball hat , I figured he didn't speak Russian. I had learned English from one of the volunteers at the orphanage who was American. I was pretty good at it and sometimes I would switch between the languages without even noticing. I repeated what I said in English to him and understanding lit up his face. " Sorry , I didn't see you " he said while holding out his hand for me to shake , " my name is Jace" I slowly reached my hand out to shake his , he seemed a little to friendly to me.

As soon as my hand touched his , he gasped and started looking around like he was expecting ninja's to jump out or something. " So he's the one , he does exists" he muttered to himself in a bewildered tone. I let go of his hand and started to back away real slowly. I knew it , he's a loon. Then it got really weird , he leaned forward and smelled me. Ok , he's not a loon , he's a freak!

As I turned to walk away his hand grabbed my wrist and held on tight. I looked down at his hand and then at his serious face. " Um.. Let go now!" I yelled. He furiously shook his head almost throwing the hat off. " I can't do that" he stated. I pulled my arm hard but for such a tiny guy , he sure was strong. " Why is that ?" I yelled. He smirked and let go of my arm , causing me to lose my balance and fall on the ground. " Cause " he drawled, " I'm from camp , I'm here to protect you"


	7. Believable

_Chapter 5: Believable_

Ok , I swear I was going to post this on April 1st. But then something really horrible and evil happened called wisdom teeth surgery. Yeah , not fun. Anyway , sorry this is short but I promise the next chapter is going to be long and amazing. I've already started working on it and sometimes I just amaze myself. Thanks SO MUCH to krystle123 for BETAing this !She is now officially my BETA. Also I was thinking about going back to my first couple of chapters and redoing them. They don't exactly scream awesome. Anyway , hope you enjoy. Next chapter is going to be long! Here's a spoiler for the next chapter, we are heading to Paris.

Thanks- UzamakiShadow

Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson , if I did I would be rolling in money right now. J

**I'm awake, I'm alive .Now I know what I believe inside. Now it's my time I'll do what I want 'cause this is my life - Awake and Alive by Skillet **

…**...**

I sighed, examining the small park we were in. "So let me get this straight." I stated, turning towards the kid, "You're from a camp whose name you can't tell me."

Jace nodded, apparently glad I had gotten the idea.

"And I have to go with you for a reason you can't tell me."

Jace slowly stopped nodding, realizing where I was going with this.

"'Cause I'm something you can't tell me."

Jace jumped of bench he was sitting on and pointed an accusing finger at me. "It's a lot worse the way you tell it!" he cried out with sudden anger.

"I'm just telling it like it is!" I shouted back.

Jace clenched his fists and stomped his foot like a little kid. "It's for _your_ protection. So shut up and deal with it. Just trust me!" he yelled, out of patience. I threw my head back and laughed, scaring the crap out of Jace, who jumped back two feet.

"Trust you?" I said in between my laughing fits, "I don't even know you! You're just some crazy, whacked up, American kid that I ran into on the street. I don't even understand why I'm wasting my time here, talking to some nobody." I stood up and adjusted my backpack on my shoulder while turning to leave. My first impression was right, this guy was a loon.

"You probably were diagnosed with dyslexia and ADHD at a young age," stated Jace in a loud know-it-all voice. "You see things that no one else can see and when you tried to tell them about it they call you crazy." I felt my jaw unclench and my fist un-tighten subconsciously as my mind reeled from Jace's words. _How does he know this? _I wondered.

"Even if you were surrounded by people, you still feel alone, knowing that no one could really understand you." Jace droned on. "Strange things would happen around you, sometimes bringing harm to others and driving people away. You don't know who your father or moth –"

"SHUT UP!" I yelled as I wheeled around, the words echoing around the small park we were in. "Just shut up! How do you know this, all this stuff? " I paused, at a loss for words. That last part really got to me.

Jace watched me with an expression on his face that made him look old and tired. I glared at Jace perplexedly, "What are you?"

Jace opened his mouth to speak.

"And don't you _dare_ say you can't tell me" I interjected, pointing an angry finger at him.

He sighed and rolled his eyes. "If I tell you, you'll just be in danger. We don't need that."

I walked back over and sat down, letting my backpack fall to the ground beside my feet. I tried a different tactic. "I can defend myself, tell me, please." I begged.

I heard him grumble under his breath as he pulled his head up to look at the sky with a thoughtful look on his face. I looked around the park we were in, giving him time to make up his mind. We were just on the outskirts of St. Petersburg and the city skyline was breathtaking as the sun set.

I watched

Jace out of the corner of my eye the whole time; something about him made me uneasy. He was talking to himself or arguing with himself. Weird. Finally he spoke up.

"You know the Greek gods in myths?" _What? _I thought. _I'm confused._

"Uh, yeah... But what does that have to do with anything?"

Jace sat up, his moss green eyes already telling me that it had to do with everything. "Congratulations! One of your parents is a god, which in turn makes you half-god. Most commonly known as a demigod or a half-blood." he rattled off matter-of-factly, like one of those talk show hosts. He glanced at me, evidently waiting for my reaction.

I eyed my bracelet. "A half-blood, huh? Well, that explains a lot." I didn't know that much about half-bloods, but I knew some famous ones like Heracles and Theseus.

"Wait – what? You accept it just like that? No calling me crazy or… yelling that this couldn't be true? You don't even look shocked!" Jace said incredulously.

I shrugged. "I've had a lot of crazy things happen today. I know _you're_ definitely crazy, and that I should be telling myself that this couldn't be true. But I've seen people spontaneously burst into flames in front of me, and my bracelet magically turn into a shield. I fought a snake lady who exploded into sand when my shield slashed through her. I know, logically, this can't be possible and I keep hoping that I'll wake up from this nightmare," I explained in a low voice.

"But it's like there's this voice in my head, telling me that this is real and I can't wake up from it. It's really weird," I finished.

Jace stared at me with his jaw almost touching the ground, surprise written all over his face. I shifted uncomfortably under his gaze.

"So this camp you were talking about," I started, trying to end the awkward silence that's been going on for a few minutes, "Are there others there...like me?"

"The voice, what did it sound like?" Jace changed the subject, coming out of his stupor.

"Didn't we kinda move past that?" I asked confusedly.

Jace looked around nervously. "Uh, yeah, right. Umm, you were asking about the camp?" he spit out.

"Yeah, are there other half-bloods there? If there are, I want to go." I said. "No questions asked."

Jace lifted up his right arm and looked at his watch. "Yeah, we need to go now."

I got up and re-slung my back-pack over my shoulder. "So where is this camp anyway?" I inquired.

"We've got one more stop to make." Jace replied. I turned around and looked at him.

"What, you think you're the only half-blood in the world?" he smirked. "I've got one more to pick up. Let's roll."


	8. Looking

**Chapter 6: Looking **

**Disclaimer: I do not own PJO, but I'm working on it. :-)**

_It's when you're safe at home that you wish you were having an adventure. When you're __having an adventure you wish you were safe at home. ~ __Thorton Wilder_

The train lurched to a slow and loud stop as it rolled into the Luxembourg train station in the heart of Paris, France. I reached over and elbowed Jace in the side, waking him up from his snoring filled sleep and causing him to fall off the crate he was sitting on. He jumped up with a look of alarm on his face and his fists raised.

"What's wrong, where's the danger? I can take them!" he tried to growl menacingly while eying the room we were in.

I rolled my eyes and pointed out the window. "We're in Paris you idiot. And keep quiet, the point is to not let them know we're on the train," I whispered. Jace's lips formed an 'o' shape and he sat back down.

We hadn't exactly paid for our train ticket, and the last thing we needed was to be found out while we were in Paris. After our fun filled afternoon in the park where my world was officially turned upside down, we had made our way to the nearest train station. It was really the best we could do since it would be next to impossible to sneak onto an airplane and there was no way I was walking. So if someone just happened to leave the door open on the luggage car on a train heading straight to Paris, you couldn't really blame us, could you?

I turned my head as I heard someone walking towards us. "We need to go now," I murmured as I stood up. Jace followed as I tiptoed towards the door.

"You better watch your backpack. Paris is famous for its thieves," Jace warned as I shifted it in my hands. His moss green eyes were twinkling with excitement. My grip tightened around my bag.

"I'd like to see someone try," I muttered.

"Here, let me go first," Jace offered. He crept around me and quietly opened the door just enough for him to stick his head out. "Ok… Go!" He jumped out, his coat flying behind him like a cape, leaving me scrambling behind him.

I caught up to him and we ducked into an alley, then ran to a busy street. Jace, caught up in running away, ran straight onto the path of an incoming car. I quickly reached out and grabbed his shirt roughly to pull him back. He landed on his butt and fell on the sidewalk as the car roared past us with its horn blaring. He looked up at me with his eyes widened and his face a shade paler.

"Hey, thanks man. You saved me from becoming Jace- paste," he said shakily. I shrugged and released my tight hold on his shirt.

"It's was nothing, forget about it." I looked over Jace and pointed to a spot on the ground. "Your hat fell off." Surprise on his face, he glanced at his hat balancing on the curb, about to be blown away. Jace, without hesitation, rapidly jumped up, grabbed it and shoved it over his crazy brown hair. He then shook his head to test to see if it would fly off again. Satisfied, he grinned and pointed to a bench a few feet way.

"We might as well sit down and cover everything. What a bad start to a mission though. It's a bad omen I tell yah," he told me while shaking his head. I reached down and helped him up, then turned and sat down on the bench.

"So, who exactly are we looking for?" I asked while stretching out my limbs. The luggage car hadn't exactly been spacious, so now I had cricks and sore places everywhere. Include the fact that I had gotten no sleep because of my traveling companion trying to explain the wonders of American baseball.

Jace reached down and pulled a wrinkly and dirty piece of paper out of his jacket. "Her name is Jeanne Rieu. She's fourteen, born in Paris but no confirmed address, probably lives by herself in some abandon building or in some orphanage. Her mother drowned two years ago, no other family known. Has short sandy blonde hair with brown eyes and is five foot eight. Confirmed ADHD and dyslexia. Has received several warnings from the cops for stealing but never imprisoned." He nodded to himself. "Sounds like a classic Hermes," he added before putting the paper back in his pocket.

I stared at him, confused. "A Hermes case?" I questioned.

"Her personality and appearance match those of a Hermes kid," Jace explained. "The hair, eyes, and the fact that she steals just add up to it." "You can tell who their parent is from just that?" I asked curiously.

Jace nodded. "We can tell a lot of times just from skills, appearance, and personality, but sometimes it's a little harder than that. I remember this one kid who came to camp that didn't have any real skill except for canoeing," he snorted. "Turns out that he was Poseidon's kid! I had my money on some minor god. Boy, was I wrong."

My hand absent-mindedly rubbed my bracelet as I stared at the ground. "So, could you guess who my parent is?" I asked in a low voice.

Jace looked over and examined me with a thoughtful look on his face. "I guess I could. But," he interjected, holding his hand up, "it's not my place to tell you. Someday, your parent will claim you. And judging by that little gift he or she gave you," he said while gesturing at my bracelet, "I'd say that they care about you a lot. It won't be long before someone claims you. I'd bet my Hank Aaron autographed baseball on it." Jace's smile was contagious, and before I knew it I started smiling too.

"Ok, so back to the mission," I said, putting the discussion behind me, "where exactly do we find this girl?"

Jace shrugged and stood up from the bench. "I'll just ask some of my friends. They've probably sensed her already."

I got up and followed him. "So where exactly are these friends of yours?" I inquired as we walked. He didn't answer, just sped up.

We strolled through the heart of Paris. If I had been there any other time I would have enjoyed the beauty of it. The air was thick with the smell of flowers and of pastries from the bakeries and café's lining the street. Tall buildings reached up to the clear blue sky around us and I could make out the Eiffel tower in the distance. But the best part was the sun. It hung straight over us, shining down on the cobble-stones and creating a sort of oven type feeling. For the first time in a while I took off my coat to walk through the streets. And there was no snow in sight. Part of me wanted to lie down and just enjoyed it or smell a flower or two, but the other part made me continue to follow Jace.

We were making our way through the busy crowd of Paris when Jace suddenly turned down an alley and disappeared. I stopped abruptly, causing the man behind me to crash into me and making us both fall to the ground. I helped him to his feet after apologizing a hundred times while he called me some very colorful words in French. I turned around and quickly ran down the long alley I'd seen Jace turn into, looking for the already familiar sight of an Atlanta Brave's baseball hat. The walls were dirty with graffiti and the smell of putrid of garbage lingered in the air. Contrary to the beautiful part of Paris I had just seen, this was the darker side of such a grand city. My nose wished for the smell of flowers and bread again.

As I raced down the alley, it looked like it went on forever, then it suddenly emptied out into a very large park. I saw Jace, fresh as a daisy, standing by a large grove of trees. Picking up speed, I reached him at last. I leaned over, panting heavily. My side stung a little from where my ribs were still healing from my bruises.

Jace turned around with his eyebrows raised. "What took you so long slow-poke?" he smirked. I looked up and gave him an evil eye. "If I wasn't suffocating right now… I would kill you," I said in between breaths.

"Then you wouldn't know how to get to camp," he teased.

"Details, details" I shot back. My breathing slowed and I stood upright while looking around. "So where are your friends?" I asked, "There's nothing but tree's out here."

"Well…" Jace drawled, "they were coming out, but then you had to scare them by running up here sounding like a freight train."

I shot him an annoyed look. "Really, where are they?"

Jace held out his hand and gestured to the park, "They're here," he replied. He cupped his hands around his mouth. "You guys can come out now. It's just my friend, he's a demigod," he called out.

I looked around but saw no one. Maybe his brain had been fried by the sun because I was pretty certain he wasn't talking to anything. If I thought my week couldn't get any weirder, it did now. To my surprise, people started coming out of the trees. You heard me, out of _trees._

"Uh…" I managed while shooting freaked out looks at Jace.

"They're tree sprits or Nymphs," he explained, "although I prefer the term tree sprit. When people think of nymphs they think of beautiful, prancing girls and flowers, which I most certainly not."

I looked at him, puzzled.

"Well, what did you think I was?" Jace demanded, "I'm not a half-blood, and I am definitely _not _a satyr. I'm a tree sprit, a hemlock tree to be exact."

My vocal chords froze for a moment and I stood there dumbly. What do you say to someone who just told you they were a tree? And why do I always get into these awkward situations?

"So, I guess fires are out of the question, because you know… Trees burn," I blurted out stupidly.

Jace's eyes were tinged with more annoyance than I thought a tree could muster as he glared at me. I gave a nervous, weak laugh and took a step back. If looks could kill…

"You know, if you weren't a half-blood, I would kill you," Jace muttered finally as he turned his back to me, facing the people coming out of trees. A little girl with a flowing green dress approached us curiously.

"Bonjour," she greeted shyly with a little wave.

"Bonjour, mon amie," Jace replied with a dramatic bow, his hat threatening to fall off. "Pouvez-vous nous aider?"

I stared at him, shocked. "You speak French?"

"Oui," he replied without turning. The two tree spirits continued speaking back and forth while I stood there, not understanding a word they said. After discussing for a couple of minutes, Jace turned around. "Come on, let's go. We know where she is now." He started toward the opposite direction of where we came. I gave one last look back at the Nymphs and the little girl in the flowing dress. As I watched, they slowly melted back into the trees. I turned to where Jace was waiting, and followed.

"This is definitely stalking!"

"It's only stalking if we get caught! So shut up!" Jace hissed.

I shifted uncomfortably but continued to watch the girl across the street. It had taken us awhile to get to where the trees had told us to go, but after some arguing, yelling, and finally asking directions, we had found her. She was a lot different from what I had imagined. Her sandy hair was cropped under her chin and looked like someone had cut it with a knife. Her brown eyes popped because of her strikingly pale skin. For the ten minutes we watched her, she had been reading some French book which Jace told me was about archeology.

My cheeks reddened and for the ninety-eighth time since we had been there I felt like a peeping tom. "How long are we going to stalk – I mean, observe her?" I corrected when Jace elbowed me.

"I don't know," he answered as he turned toward me, "I haven't exactly done this a lot," he added sheepishly.

"Just great," I muttered. I turned back toward the old building and quickly jabbed Jace in the side. "She's gone!" I whispered while pointing to the now empty rusty colored bench.

He rolled his eyes, "Relax, she's probably gone to the bathroom or something. You know how girls are," he assured me.

"Oh really, my friend, what _are_ we girls like?" a French accented voice asked behind us.

I froze and elbowed my fellow partner-in-crime, not daring to look back.

Jace slowly turned around and gave a nervous wave. He laughed weakly. "Hello, Jeanne."

**AN: Did anyone get the PJ reference? Thanks for your patience on this chapter. R and R !**


	9. Found

**Okay, okay. I know it's been forever since I updated and I'm so sorry for that. But believe it or not now that summers over I'll actually have more time to work on my story. So I'm back baby! **

**Also, thanks to krystle123, my Beta, for correcting my horrible grammar. She's the best! **

**Disclaimer: Okay fine! I do not own PJO. You happy now?**

**And why would I want to own Twilight?**

…**...**

_With lies you may get ahead in the world - but you can never go back. ~Russian proverb_…...

I turned around slowly and half-heartedly threw my hands up in surrender. Jace did the same. "How do you know my name? Are you like those other people?" Jeanne interrogated, her brown eyes piercing through me. "Pretend to be nice and friendly than transform into some monster?" Jace waved his hands frantically in front of him. "No, no! It's not like that at all. We're fro-" The sentence died in his through and he glanced over at me pleadingly. This girl already looked like she would run us through without a second thought, and this was definitely not the right time to tell someone about their godly heritage. It was something that needed to be done slowly and gently - or she might call the nearest mental institution on casually twirled a pocket knife in her left hand, observing us. Judging by the multiple nicks and scratches on the blade, it had probably seen action before. Great, we got the crazy half-blood. I gulped audibly and returned Jace's glance. And he expected me to calm her down? I reached down and felt the cold metal of my I.D. bracelet, just reassuring myself that it was there. I wasn't real keen about attacking her, not exactly a great first impression, but if that knife got any closer, I wouldn't mind whacking her a couple of times across the head. "I'll ask you one more time. How. Do. You. Know. My. Name?" she demanded. Jace looked over at me again, his eyes asking for an answer, for anything."Just a lucky guess!" I blurted out. The knife in her hand stopped moving as she looked at me, confused. My partner-in crime bobbed his head up and down, agreeing with my horrible lie. "Yeah! I mean, we're in France right? So that means there are a lot of people named Jeanne, because, y'know, that's a french name..." he trailed off when Jeanne and I both stared at glanced back to me again before clicking her knife shut and sliding it in a pocket of her camo cargo pants. Now I was of the corner of my eye I saw Jace shrug. Apparently he didn't know what was going on either. Jeanne sighed and leaned against the brick wall of the alley we were in. "Judging by that blatant lie, the fact you know my name, and because stupid over here," she gestured towards Jace, "is wearing a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt, I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're from camp." My jaw dropped as I stared at her. All this time, and she knew!Jace jumped up from the ground, his face flushed with anger. "Then what was the bloody knife for?" he yelled."I needed to see if I could trust you," Jeanne replied smoothly. "I've been having a problem with monsters; it was merely a precaution."I stood up from the grimy ground and brushed myself off, not letting her out of my sight. Jace looked like he was about to start shouting again so I pushed him aside. I stuck my hand out at her. "Hello, my name is Aleksandr, I'm a half-blood, like you. And this is Jace, he's a tree." Jeanne smiled at me, grabbing my hand and giving it a hard shake. "Aleksandr, that's a cool name. How's it spelled? Like Alexander the Great, or judging by your accent, Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn?" she asked, excited."Who?" I asked. She waved her hands, brushing it off. "Never mind, I'll tell you some other time." "Hey!" Jace exclaimed as my words struck him, "What do you mean 'I'm a tree'?" He punched my shoulder. Quite hard, I might add.I rolled my eyes. "Fine. This is Jace, he's a tree-_spirit_. Big difference."

Jace nodded, satisfied, and held out his hand to Jeanne. "I'm from Camp Half-Blood. How exactly do you know about camp again?"

She shook his hand and glanced at the setting sun. "I'll tell you inside." She gestured to the building we had been stalki- I mean, observing, earlier. She shrugged

past us, leading the way. But then she stopped abruptly and turned to face us. "Oh, and by the way, my name is Jeanne Rieu, daughter of Hermes."…...The first thing I noticed when I walked into the old building were the books. Not a couple lying around or a few of bookcases worth. There was hundreds all over the place, stacked on top of each other, everywhere. Jeanne could basically run a library. Jace let out a whistle as he took it in. The second thing I noticed was how big the building was. It looked like an old, small building from the outside, but on the inside, it had arches and columns, like a church. Jeanne went over and flopped down on the couch we had seen her on earlier. It was the only piece of furniture that wasn't covered in books. She grabbed a stack of books off another couch and placed them on the floor.

"Please, sit," she said, gesturing towards it.

I let my backpack fall to the ground while Jace helped himself and laid on the couch."So… what's with the books?" he asked, eyeing the piles of novels.

Jeanne smiled. "Welcome to St. Paul's," she declared, "before the World War II, it was a simple church. But during Germany's occupation of France, it was used as a place to hide books for fear that Germany would burn them. Then the books were eventually forgotten and left in the basement, and then the church closed down. I found this building one day and thought it was beautiful to begin with, then I found the hundreds of books in the basement. All of the books are written by the best authors. And some of the books here are one of a kind. From time to time, I add to the collection."

I frowned and picked up a black paperback book off the ground. "So Twilight is a great piece of literature now?" I said while waving it.

She laughed, the sound echoing around the church. "It makes a great doorstop."

Jace cleared his throat. "Not that this little history lesson isn't interesting or anything, but could we get back to the main question?" he asked.

"Oh yeah, about camp and all that," Jeanne started. "My maman, or mom like you Americans say, told me about my father about two years ago, before she…" She paused; you could see the pain all over her face. I reached over and put my hand on her shoulder, feeling the need to comfort her. She looked up at me, her eyes showing her thanks.

Jeanne cleared her throat and turned to look at Jace. "She told me about my father and about the camp when I was twelve. That I would need to go there soon for my own protection. But the accident happened before we could make arrangements or anything. I didn't even know where the camp was, and I still don't. My maman told me that someone from camp would come and find me eventually, so I decided to wait.

Then about half a year ago the monsters started attacking. They would disguise themselves as humans, which was why I was so hostile earlier. Because of them, my father showed up in my dreams and gave me this." She reached down into her pocket and pulled out the knife. Jace stared at it intently. "May I see it?" he asked as he held his hand out. Jeanne shrugged and dropped it in his palm.

He turned it around, examining it. "I didn't really get a good look at it earlier with it being waved around in my face," he murmured, "but this is definitely celestial bronze." I frowned. "Isn't that some kind of tanning lotion or something?" I questioned.

Jeanne snickered. "Oh Monsieur… celestial bronze is the only metal that can kill monsters," she told me. "But it can also harm half-bloods. It can't touch humans." Oh. That explained a lot. "Plus this knife is magic," she added. "It never misses its mark."

"What do you mean it nev-" I was cut off by a loud thunk. My heart skipped a bit and I slowly turned around. The knife was perfectly embedded in the wall behind me, and I swear that there was some blond hair on it. I shakily reached up to my head and found my hair and my head intact.

"What was_ that_?" I growled at Jace.

He shrugged. "Just showing you what it does."

Jeanne walked over and yanked it out of the wall. "Basically where you want it to go, it goes," she said.

Realization dawned on me and I glanced down at my I.D bracelet "Wait… So that means this…" I activated my shield, "is magic and celestial bronze too?"

A golden glimmer filled the room as what little light there was reflected off the shield. Jeanne's eyes were as wide as saucers as she took it in. She hesitantly reached out to touch it.

"Go ahead," I offered, "It won't zap you… I think."

Jeanne ran her hands over the cold metal, feeling the different groves on it. Her hands stopped and she looked up at me.

"Do you know what this is?" she asked. I slid the shield off my arm so I could look at it better.

I squinted at it. "It kinda looks like a bow and arrow…"

Jeanne looked over at Jace like she was asking if she could continue. He thought for a moment and nodded. Jeanne turned back toward me, her brown eyes staring.

"There are twelve main Greek gods," she began. "Only two of them are known for their archery. And only one of them are allowed to have children."

My eyes widened as a stared down on my shield. The bracelet I had worn all my life held the secret on who my father was. It was kinda ironic. I looked back up at Jeanne, not able to speak. She hesitated before speaking. "That would be the sun god, Apollo."

…...

I laid out on the small couch staring at the ceiling, not able to sleep. After what Jeanne told me, I had just sat there numbly until it was time to get some rest. J

Jeanne and Jace had decided that we would leave for camp tomorrow, probably by airplane. I hadn't helped at all with the decision making, I didn't contribute any input at all.

I growled and put my face in my pillow. Fifteen years… no contact, no anything. The bow and arrow on the shield was no coincidence. It all added up. What I did that day at school, when I nearly fried that bully, made perfect sense. The kid of the sun god would be able to do something like that. I turned to the other side of the couch and fluffed my pillow. No way was I going to get any sleep tonight.

"Alek," a small voice whispered. "Are you awake?" I glanced over to the small mattress on the other side of the room to see Jeanne looking at me with concern.

"Yeah, can't sleep," I muttered through my pillow.

"You know, I know how you feel," she said.

I sat straight up. "No, no you don't," I hissed with unusual venom. "I've never had a family. I've had one really good friend that I would like to imagine as my sister but I've never had a _real_ family; people that I can sit down and eat dinner with and they would ask me how school was, teach me how to ride a bike, or just be there! You had your mom at least, someone there to take care of you and all that, while I was all alone."

Then I find out I have a father. One that supposedly cares for me but doesn't show up for fifteen years. Yeah, I knew this was going to happen when Jace told me I was a demigod, but for me to actually know who he is - It's just another kick to the gut." I was out of breath from my rant and just lay there for a second, panting.

Silence came from the corner. Guilt washed over me as I realized what I just said.

"Jeanne, I'm so sorry," I said quickly, " I just needed to let it all out. I didn't mean to take it out on you. It was uncalled for." It was still silent in the room and I thought she wasn't going to talk to me anymore.

She finally spoke. "It's alright, I understand. You've had a lot to take in over the past two days. Besides you - " she stopped mid-sentence.

I peered over at the dark corner. "Jeanne, you there?" She threw her blanket to the ground and jumped off the mattress in one swift motion, landing in a crouch.

"Do you hear that?" she demanded.

I held my breath for a moment and listened to my surroundings. Beneath the sounds of the busy city, almost like it was hiding, was a deep growl coming from outside.

"Monster!" Jace yelled as he jerked up out of his sleep. I jumped in surprise and fell off the couch, flat on my face.

Jeanne snickered from across the room. "Nice boxers Alek."

My face reddened and I grabbed my pants, shoving them on as fast a possible. "Shut it. That's how I sleep," I muttered.

Jace ran across the room, putting as much of our stuff in our backpacks as fast as he could. He slung both of them over his shoulder and turned to Jeanne. "Please tell me there's some sort of back door or secret exit or something."

"Yeah, the bookcase." She pointed.

He looked over at me and gestured towards it. I nodded and ran over to it while trying not to trip over the library on the floor. I could hear Jeanne in the background stuffing clothes and books into a backpack.

The old bookcase looked like it was a ton but when I pushed, it slid across the floor easily, revealing a dark tunnel.

Jace glanced over at Jeanne. "We need to go now," he commanded. "Alek, get your shield out and Jean, get your knife ready. If that monster's what I think it is, we're in for one heck of a fight. Do you have a weapon or anything I could use, Jean?"

Jeanne nodded and grabbed something off the ground. "Here," she said and tossed it to Jace.

He caught it with ease and twirled it around in his hand. "Great. You get the magic knife, he gets the magic shield, and I get the baseball bat. Really feeling the love."

'

Jeanne shrugged. "It's all I have, take it or leave it."

Jace grimaced but kept the bat and made his way down the tunnel.

I muttered the word under my breath and my bracelet grew, transforming into my golden shield.

Jeanne was twirling her knife in her hand and wistfully staring at her books.

I spoke up. "Ladies first." She turned and smiled at me before making her way down the tunnel. I stepped in and froze. The growling noise was now coming from outside the building and a large shadow filtered through the window. I shuddered and quickly moved the bookcase back in place.

…...

"Gods it smells down here," Jace murmured. Unfortunately what Jean had failed to tell us was that the tunnel led straight to the sewage system.

"Would you rather stay back with our monster friend?" I asked. He rolled his eyes but kept on sloshing through the ankle-high water. Jeanne was leading us through the almost pitch-black tunnels, Jace and I were pretty much following her blindly. I was border-line hyperventilating with how dark the tunnel is, but I wasn't about to admit that.

I nervously glanced back at the dark tunnel behind me and quickened my pace. No way was I getting left behind. Jeanne stopped for a second and made a sharp right turn down another tunnel. The tunnels couldn't take us exactly right to the airport, but it was close enough.

"Hey Jeanne," I spoke up, "how exactly are we paying for plane tickets?"

"Life insurance," she murmured without turning.

I only heard part of it so I leaned in closer. "Huh, what did you s-mmmmm - " She threw her hand over my mouth and signaled for me to be quiet. "Mmmmhhh?" I mumbled. Her grip on my mouth tightened till I couldn't breathe. I took that as a hint that I should be quiet. Then I heard it. The sound of splashing faintly echoed behind us.

"It thought you said it was a secret tunnel!" Jace hissed. Jeanne let go of my face and shrugged as I gasped for air.

"We need to go now!" Jace whispered. Jeanne didn't need any persuasion as she took off down the tunnel.

"Wait… Won't it just follow us to the airport? The one filled with people?" I asked.

Jeanne stopped in mid-stride and huffed. "We have to fight that thing then. Do we?" She sounded as if she hoped I'd say no. I didn't respond, but tightened the straps of my shield. She sighed. "That's what I thought."

She flicked open her knife and walked to my side. Jace tied our backpacks to a pipe hanging on the wall and joined us, bat swinging in his hand. An eerie silence fell over the tunnel as the echo came closer. It came closer and closer then finally stopped. My heart was beating so hard I thought it would burst out of my chest. All my muscles tensed and I could hardly keep myself still. One glance out of the corner of my eye told me that Jeanne was having the same problem, her arms and legs twitching and the knife moving from hand to hand.

A low growl pierced the silence. I felt the hairs on the back of my neck stick up as a large silhouette came towards us. Because of the lack of light I couldn't see much, but what I could see, I didn't like. This thing made a SUV seem like a clown car and could be a little sibling to a school bus. It was a grizzly bear on steroids. Black eyes sized me up as it moved in closer, drool dripping of fangs that made my arms seem like toothpicks. I gulped and pushed down the lever on the backside of my shield. My wrist tingled as the shield's edge turned sharp.

The Bear-osaurus Rex let out a roar and charged towards us. Jeanne tucked and rolled out of the way as I instinctively held my shield in front of me, holding my ground. It raised one of its claw tipped paws and smashed it against me. I gasped and fell to one knee as it pressed down on me. It was as strong as it looked.

Jeanne swiped at it's back, trying to distract it, but it swatted her away, keeping it's attention on me. A loud crack filled my ears as Jace smacked the thing across its head, skull meeting Louisville Slugger. It turned around and pawed at the empty air where Jace had been, its frustrated roaring filling the sewer.

I jumped at the opening and sliced at the bear. Paws went after me as I ducked and moved. The thing wasn't very fast, or smart. I ducked around a meaty, furry arm and tried to slice it again. A large paw met me and slammed me into the brick wall. There was a large crack as my skull banged against the wall and I slid down into the water, completely limp and seeing stars.

"Alek!" Jace yelled. The bear turned at the sound of his voice and let out a roar. It got cut off by a baseball bat to the face. It staggered backwards, its eyes glassy, and Jace moved in for another homerun. Suddenly its eyes focused and it reached up and grabbed Jace, pinning him by his neck against the wall.

I saw the bat fall uselessly to the ground as Jace struggled to breathe. I gritted my teeth and tried to stand, only to fall uselessly to the ground. My vision blurred, but I could still see Jace struggling. One of the only friends I had was going to die in front of me, because I couldn't protect him.

Then I heard whistling as something flew past me, and hit with a loud thunk as it met flesh. The monster dropped Jace to the ground and began frantically pawing at its face, trying to dislodge the knife sticking out between its eyes. Then it turned into dust with a one final roar.

I slowly turned my head and saw Jeanne standing where the knife had come from, arm extended from when she had thrown it. My head slowly rotated around to see Jace gasping for breath on the ground, but still alive. I leaned my head against the wall as my eyes grew heavier. My head was pounding and I could feel the blood slowly dripping down my neck. Some hero I was, I couldn't protect anyone. The last thing I remember was Jeanne shaking me and telling me not to go to sleep before everything went black.


End file.
